Social media efficacy and workplace relationships

Abstract

PurposeWith the increase of social media usage in the workplace as a background, this paper specifically addresses social media efficacy's and social media privacy's impact on supervisor and subordinate trust, affective organizational commitment (AOC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) through the theoretical lens of communication privacy management (CPM) theory.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey of 337 full- and part-time workers was conducted.FindingsPath models showed that social media efficacy positively influenced social media privacy which in turn impacted both supervisor trust and subordinate trust. Supervisor trust was positively related to AOC, while subordinate trust positively influenced OCB. t-tests revealed differences between workers who have social media relationships with supervisors and/or subordinates and those workers without such relationships.Practical implicationsIf workers believe they are adept at using social media, they will also be less concerned about the company's ability to infringe upon privacy through unwanted access to social media content. If social media efficacy drives perceptions of social media privacy and indirectly influences trust and organizational outcomes then it may be worthwhile for organizations to help enhance workers' feelings of social media efficacy through professional development programs.Originality/valueThis study is the first to extend research on workplace communication privacy into the realm of social media. Social media relationships also influence the work environment. These findings can be used as information in future research as well as policy development and professional development programs.

Work along Both Lines: The Positive Impact of Work-Based Social Media Use on Job Performance

“…Thirdly, this study only confirms that work-based social media use has a positive impact on job performance but ignores the potential negative effects and risks [ 9 , 45 ]. In particular, as social media is a relatively open information platform, the issue of privacy leaks may be more common [ 46 ]. This phenomenon can have a negative impact on employees and even on the organization.…”

Student-Professor Social Media Relationships: An Exploratory Study of Privacy and Trust

“…A modified version of Snyder’s (2010) measure of perceived email privacy called Concern about Organizational Infringement was used. The nine items on this construct, which have proven reliable (Cistulli & Snyder, 2019; Snyder & Cistulli, 2020) were modified to fit the social media context. The items (e.g., “I am confident with my ability to regulate who has access to the content of my social media account[s]”) on this reliable measure ( M = 3.56, SD = 0.61., α = .79) were scored such that higher scores were indicative of higher levels of concern (i.e., less privacy).…”

“…Past research has discussed how social media has blurred the boundaries between work and personal life for U.S. workers (Abril et al, 2012; Boswell & Olsen-Buchanan, 2007). Moreover, recent research suggests that social media relationships among workers and their supervisors and subordinates can have consequences for workplace relationships, perceptions, and behaviors (Cistulli & Snyder, 2019; Snyder & Cistulli, 2020). That research was interested in the power dynamics at play in a work environment, the use of social media to develop relationships outside of work, and the consequences of those blurred boundaries.…”

Medios de comunicación interna como estrategia para fomentar el comportamiento de ciudadanía organizacional

“…Con relación al comportamiento de ciudadanía organizacional, se puede concluir que, la interacción cara a cara y el uso de la aplicación WhatsApp, que también tiene la opción de la interacción cara a cara, contribuyen a mejorar el OCB, ya que crea confianza durante el intercambio de información (Snyder & Cistulli, 2020). Son medios rápidos de construcción de confianza entre los participantes, donde se puede devolver los beneficios que reciben de los demás, igualando la buena voluntad y la ayuda adquirida.…”

“…El aumento del uso de redes sociales ha llevado incluso, a considerarse como una herramienta de creación de confianza entre los supervisores y colaboradores, a través de la eficacia y la privacidad del contenido plasmado en las publicaciones. El uso eficaz de las redes sociales impacta tanto en la confianza del supervisor como en el colaborador, de tal forma que, logran mantener una relación con los supervisores a través de las redes sociales, que generan mayor confianza (Snyder & Cistulli, 2020). Por otro lado, el uso de tecnología disminuye la carga de trabajo mental (Fries, Wiesche, & Krcmar, 2016), lo que contribuye a crear condiciones beneficiosas para llegar a soluciones que cumplan con las políticas organizacionales (Tucker, 2015).…”